Richard III (biography)

Paul Murray Kendall's biography Richard III ("Richard the Third") (1955) about the life of Richard III of England has remained the standard of this controversial figure, although some traditionalist historians such as Desmond Seward and Alison Weir describe it as a discredited work that has been superseded as the standard by Charles Ross's biography.

There are two appendices to the book, the first deals with the murder of the princes, where Kendall makes the case for the duke of Buckingham as the murderer. The second deals with Richard's posthumous reputation.

Reviews

The reviews of the book were entirely friendly and it was a runner-up for the National Book Award in 1956, also picked one of the best books of the year by the American Library Association.
*"The best biography of Richard III that has been written."—A. L. Rowse, Chicago Tribune
*" [A] "definitive biography of Richard III. It is a noteworthy performance."—Geoffrey Bruun, Saturday Review
*"Brilliantly successful...combines sound scholarship with literary distinction...his descriptions...are always stimulating and sometimes beautiful."--Times (London) Literary Supplement.

Release details

*Kendall, Paul Murray Richard III, 1955, London, Allen & Unwin, 514 p., bibliography, maps, genealogy table, ISBN 0-04-942048-8 ISBN 0-04-923035-2 (pbk)
*Kendall, Paul Murray Richard III, 1956, New York, W.W. Norton & Company, 602 pp., bibliography, genealogy, 16 monochrome illustrations, 5 maps, paperback ISBN 0-393-00785-5
*Kendall, Paul Murray Richard III, 1956, New York, W. W. Norton & Company, 602 pages, special printing 1996 Book of the Month Club edition, bibliography, genealogy table, maps, illustrations. (hardback).
*Kendall, Paul Murray Richard III, 2002, W.W. Norton & Co Ltd, 608 pages, paperback ISBN 0-393-00785-5

ource

* [http://www.r3.org/bookcase/misc/kendall.html The Richard III Society article, originally published in the Fall, 1995 Ricardian Register]